Monday, November 28, 2016

When the hustle and bustle of the city gets to be a bit too much, its nice to escape to a place like CERES Community Environment Park. CERES (pronounced 'series') is an award not-for-profit sustainability centre located on 4.5 hectares on the Merri Creek in East Brunswick, Melbourne.

CERES is a place where people come together to
share ideas about living well together, and directly participate in
meeting their social and material needs in a sustainable way. Through
social enterprises, education and training, employment and community
engagement, CERES provides the means by which people can build awareness
of current local and global issues, and join in the movement for
economic, social and environmental sustainability.

As soon as you enter the doors of the park, a calm descends on you and you instantly forget about traffic jams and all the other things that sometimes can be annoying when living in a big city like Melbourne. The clucking of hens and buzzing of bees and people chatting is a welcome relief, and time seem to go at a different, more slower pace here. We love visiting the nursery and the organic market where you can buy some wonderful produce, or grab a quick bite to eat, while the kids play in the sandpit with some rustic toys that are available. If they are a bit too old for sandpit fun, there is a cool adventure playground in the park too. It's definitely worth the drive across the city and a wonderful place to recharge for the whole family on a weekend.

The sun has finally made an appearance after a long and very windy winter. The wait for warmer weather has felt unusually long so when a warm day finally came around and we could stick our toes in the crisp white sand at Seaford, it was truly a pleasure!

The new high summer collection from Munsterkids has arrived on both the virtual shelves and in stores. We are totally smitten with this line and it was of course a bit extra fun to see some of my own designs turning out so great - the lovely peeps over at Munsterkids truly knows what they are doing (with over 10 years in the game their collections just keep getting stronger).

I appologize for the slow feed on the blog lately. Work has taken over a big chunk of my weekdays but the creative side never sleeps so I promise I will get back to posting more interesting travel destinations and photos from our adventures here in Australia. Until then... I hope the sun shines on you too!

Saturday, November 12, 2016

If you live in Victoria and have yet not taken yourself to the McClelland Sculpture Park you owe it to yourself to do it, and do it soon. We have often traveled past it without even knowing it was there, but always been amazed at a few great sculptures that are visible from the nearby highway.

One day day when we past we noticed a sign and I looked it up. Sure enough, there was a nearby sculpture park. First weekend we had off we decided to check it out. Set in 16 hectares of bush and landscaped gardens in Langwarrin, 4kms east of Frankston on the Mornington Peninsula, it is the home to over 100 permanent outdoor sculptures. It was love at first sight! The park is a wonderful mix of open grass fields, a lake and dozen charming forest pathways, that leads you through the sculpture park. The kids loved exploring and finding the sculptures. I have always had a big passion for sculptures and it was so nice to share it with the kids here, were they could run free and take it all in.

After the walk, make sure you stop at the cafe, kick off your shoes and have an ice-cream looking out over the wonderful lake.

Every now and then, the hustle and bustle of everyday life sort of catches up with us and the urge to simply get away comes sneaking up on us. This time around we opted to sneak away for a long weekend, and our first choice was to escape on a coast trip. We have had our eyes on the Flinders Treehouse for a while now, but there just hasn't been a good opportunity to check it out until now.

Set amongst the tall trees, this very private get away abode offers everything a family could want or need. Only a 10 minute walk to the nearest beach and a short drive or walk from Flinders village it is the perfect spot for a Flinders adventure. The house has a contemporary treehouse feel and it was a pleasure to sit on the balcony in the morning while having breakfast and take in the magnificent tall trees that surrounds the house. It is very easy to feel a million miles away from the city when all you can hear is the wind and the birds in the trees.

The house offers 4 bedrooms and plenty of space for two families if you wish to share it with someone. Our kids loved the fact that there was plenty of toys to play with and a big trampoline in the backyard. The panoramic windows on the top floor made it easy to see what the kids were upto in the backyard and we have to admit it was a welcome break to see the kids enjoy themselves, exploring and bouncing away outside, while we had a chance to kick back, enjoy a glass of wine and cozy up to the open fire inside.

The house is tastefully decorated and being a Swede I particularly felt at home with the Scandinavian design feel the house had.

Flinders is an excellent place to visit if you want to visit the many nearby vineyards, take a hike through the many magic nature tracks the area has to offer, or simply just enjoy some lovely local food. The rugged coast line is spectacular and we took so many photos we have to turn this trip into a part 2 on the blog! This area has truly something to offer for all ages and interests, so we definitely have to come back soon, to explore it some more. If you are interested in reading more or booking Flinders Treehouse simply click on the link below.

Friday, August 19, 2016

By now I think it is no surprise that my family and I are very interested in discovering new interesting venues that we can take our children to and explore. We often take them to museums and venues like the art center or inspiring playgrounds that have been designed with the purpose of having fun, not only physically but also visually stimulating.

Today I’d like you to tag along and follow me to the heartland of America, Nebraska and a visit to the Omaha Children’s Museum - an organization who provides children with all of the above and more! We sit down and chat with Michelle Chartrand - Director of Advancement and Matt Orand - Chief Operating Officer.

2016 has been quite a special year for OCM as you are celebrating your 40 year anniversary! Tell me how have you celebrated this monumental achievement and how did it all start back in 1976?

Michelle: The museum had quite a humble beginning back in 1976 and started as a traveling community program that operated out of the back of an old station wagon. It’s pretty incredible to think that 40 years later we are the most visited museum in the state of Nebraska and serve nearly 300,000 people each year! We’ve got lots going on to highlight our big anniversary including a big celebration on our official birthday June 25 which will include goodie bags, cupcakes and lots of birthday themed programming for guests that day.

We’ll also be doing a throwback to some of our original events including Sundae Sunday on June 26 which where the museum will have a sundae bar set up outside and will have celebrity scoopers on hand to help cap off our birthday weekend.

OCM is such a visually stimulating place for kids and parents to be, you obviously take a lot of care into the interior design of the museum. Who decides on the design of an exhibit like for instance the Imagination Playground, and what key elements goes into the design to make it visually fun and interesting for the kids exploring it?

Matt: The museum has always put a big emphasis on the look and feel of its exhibits and graphics. We strive to make everything bright, exciting and inviting. Although some of the permanent exhibits that were completed in a previous renovation were designed by an exhibit design firm, all of the recent exhibits, graphics and logos are designed by the museum’s in-house team.

That team includes an Art Director, Traveling Exhibits Coordinator, Exhibits and Facility Director and Graphic Designer.

You have both permanent exhibitions and traveling exhibitions at the museum, how do you choose which ones to make permanent?

Matt: The incredibly large second floor of the museum that houses our temporary exhibits gives us the opportunity come up with a theme that can be delivered in a completely immersive way. We create two temporary exhibits a year and they have quickly become one of the most popular parts of our visitor’s experiences. The permanent exhibits are grouped into three main thematic areas; The Charlie Campbell Science Center, Creative Arts Center and Imagination Playground. With almost 300,000 visitors annually those exhibits see a lot of use. As they become worn, we look for opportunities to replace them with creative new pieces

And I hear new permanent exhibitions is coming up too? Anything for little train enthusiasts perhaps?

Matt: We are proud to have opened Susie’s Station, an interactive train depot named in honor of Susie Landow. The station includes hidden displays, an interactive train engine, a ticket window, a mysterious moving portrait and magnetic railroad map of the United States. Guests can explore these exhibit pieces as they wait to board the museum’s train ride.

Your last exhibition - The Super Powers was very highly attended and loved by both young and old, what are some of OCM’s favourite exhibitions from the past and what can we look forward to coming up next?

Matt: It would be impossible to pick a favorite. The museum has hosted world-class traveling exhibits like Sesame Street: The Body and LEGO Travel Adventures. It’s also created fully immersive exhibits like Itty-Bitty City, Construction Zone: Return of the Bulldozer and our current exhibit Pirates and Mermaids: Adventure to Creature Cove.

Our fall exhibit, Imagination, will celebrate the museum’s 40 year commitment to the power of play by highlighting and recreating some of our most beloved pieces. For visitors that are eager to find out what’s coming further down the road, we can only offer some hints: They can look forward to more prehistoric beasts, talking trees and some totally awesome pizza-loving heroes.

I have seen some sneak peeks at the OCM’s instagram (@omahachildrenmuseum) page of some of the amazing creatures you will have on your Pirates and Mermaids - Voyage to Creature Cove exhibit, what are some of the attractions parents and kids can explore on this swashbuckling adventure

Matt: Kids can play on a giant “wave” that gets them close to a twenty foot long prehistoric shark named Chompy. Once on board of our forty foot long pirate ship they can scale the masts climb from bow to stern. As they explore the rest of the watery world, they will encounter a giant octopus, an elasmasoaraus, a giant purple ammonite and a mosasaurus. The exhibit also includes live marine life and tons of interactive programs that happen multiple times per day. Visitors will also want to be on the lookout for one of our many mermaids that hold the secrets of the sea!

I love the initiative of the Omaha Children’s Museum Welcome Fund, can you tell us a little bit about it?

Michelle: Omaha Children’s Museums Welcome Fund program is 100% donor supported and is designed to share the museum experience with families and children who may not otherwise have the opportunity to enjoy our programs and exhibits. This program allows the museum to offer $5 family memberships to low-income families in the Omaha Metro and to date has about 750 families who utilize this opportunity.

Working at the museum must be the best way to stay young! What is the most rewarding thing about working at the OCM? Michelle: There are SO many rewarding things about working at OCM. One of the best parts of the job is seeing the families that walk thru our doors spend time together and watching kids explore our museum as they learn through play. Each day is so different here at OCM and its fun to be part of a team that creates exciting, educational and most importantly, fun, exhibits and programs for young children and families.

Matt: Working at the museum we get to share in the excitement and joy that our young visitors experience every time they walk through the doors. The most rewarding part of working here is being able to offer the unparalleled experience of open-ended imaginative play to thousands of children. Plus, we all get paid to play!

Thank you so much for taking the time to chat with us and letting us peek into the wonderful learning experience that OCM is! A special thank you goes out to Shawn Toovey - the Director of Guest Experience for making this interview possible!